The present invention relates to a hair care composition in the form of a microemulsion, which contains at least one oil, at least one nonionic surfactant with an HLB value of 5 to 12, at least one quaternary surfactant and water. Furthermore, the invention relates to hair care compositions of this type having a high gel-like high viscosity.
The physical, chemical and morphological properties of hair are negatively influenced by a variety of different actions. Thus the hair structure is damaged by cosmetic treatments, such as repeated bleaching, permanent wave treatments and dyeing, frequent washing of the hair with removal of fats or degreasing, and also by the effects of the environment such as moisture, temperature differences and sunlight. The hair becomes brittle and looses its sheen. The hair damaged in this way collects in combs and brushes electrostatically. The roughened hair surface leads to a poor combability and disentanglability of the hair by formation of knots and tangles. Thus hair care agents having improved combability and hair care properties have a considerable significance.
Hair care composition for improving the condition of the hair, usually in the form of emulsions or suspensions, contain fatty alcohol, waxes, oils and anionic and cationic surfactants.
Hair care compositions are usually turbid fluids or highly viscous preparations.
In the past attempts were made to make clear hair care compositions or hair rinses, for example aqueous solutions of cationic surfactants or cationic polymers were thickened by nonionic polymers. These type of hair care compositions however up to now have been unable to produce the conditioning effects of a cationic emulsion composition.
In contrast to the usually used two or multiphase hair care compositions, which have the added risk of separation and deposition, microemulsions are clear, thermodynamically stable, quasi-one phase system. By "quasi-one phase" we mean that they behave in many ways as if they were a one phase system.
Clear homogeneous microemulsions for topical treatment of skin and hair are known from EP Published Patent Application 0 278 660 from skin and hair, which contain at least 20 percent by weight of a hydrophobic oil phase, 0.01 to 20 percent by weight of a quaternary ammonium surfactant and 0.01 to 20 percent by weight of a hydrophilic phase, which can be water, and a cosurfactant in sufficient quantity. The microemulsions described in the examples of European Published Patent Application 0 278 660 are not hair care agents or compositions and have a comparatively small water content (maximum 6 percent by weight) and a high oil content. The microemulsions described there are barely acceptable as hair care compositions, since they load the hair strongly with oil, and are difficult to rinse out of the hair and give the hair a greasy and stranded appearance.
The microemulsions described in European Published Patent Application 0 278 660 are moreover dilute liquids. This type of dilute liquid consistency is unsuitable for a hair care composition, since these dilute liquid compositions have already dripped away from the hair during the time during which they are supposed to act on the hair.